Yu Chen sat atop the broken ziggurat, legs crossed in lotus position.

The air around him was thick with the spiritual energy that gushed forth from the multiple energy wells he’d found exploring the outpost, springs ran forth from the heart of the world, but instead of water they brought forth the rich energy of heaven and earth.

They were doubtless one of the reasons the Flowing Eternity Sect had chosen to build a cadet branch here. They were also one of the reasons Yu Chen still remained within the outpost, and hadn’t already left himself. With nothing to absorb it, the energy had built up over time, creating a dense trove of spiritual energy just waiting to be claimed.

He hadn’t even spent a full day within the outpost before his dantian had begun to feel uncomfortably full. After all, it’d been many months since he’d entered Qi Refinement, and he’d long since managed to stretch his dantian to full capacity, having filled and refilled it many times since then.

Letting out a deep breath of contentment, he felt the last stresses of the past few weeks leave his body. It had taken him some time as he’d rooted through his consciousness, but he’d finally cleared his mind, overturning all of the fears and concerns that had been piling up and weighing him down.

It was all in preparation for this, his breakthrough to the next level. His journey through the secret realm had provided him with the experience he’d needed, and he was finally ready to take the next step, determined to reach the fourth stage of the Qi Condensation realm.

He had no pills to help him this time, not that he needed them. His meridians were flawless and perfectly clear, and the powerful bones he’d scattered around him were radiating a dense qi of their own that only added to the endless energy that surrounded him. It was more than enough for his purposes.

Taking rhythmic breaths, he began moving his qi through a strange pattern as he cycled his new breathing technique.

The surrounding energy reacted immediately - It was as though his dantian had transformed into a yawning pit, and spiritual energy surged forth to fill the vacuum, pouring into him so tremendously fast that his dantian immediately felt the strain. Yu Chen’s eyes went up, and he cut the breathing technique off, extremely shocked at this turn of events.

Breathing deeply, he centered himself.

He didn’t know what he’d expected, but it wasn’t that. The breathing technique he’d been using for so long wasn’t much different from the others he’d seen. All of them utilized the body’s mechanics alongside qi, to generate a powerful suction force that pulled in the surrounding energy.

When he’d used the Golden Mist technique for the first time the spiritual energy in the air merely drifted towards him, floating so slowly that one would be hard pressed to say it was pulled. Over time it had increased to the point where he’d create a discernable vortex, the energy swirling in lazy waves as it was pulled towards his dantian.

This technique was nothing like that, however. Through some mystical means his dantian had become akin to an empty nothingness that emitted an immense pull - But it only appeared as such, in truth, the energy was not pulled at all. No, the spiritual energy in the air moved on its own accord, traveling in the same manner in which liquids flowed downwards, and gases rushed to fill a void. And it turned out spiritual energy could move far faster than water.

It was many times more profound than he’d imagined. It was as though he’d just uncovered a natural phenomena that had surrounded him his entire life, but he’d never paid attention.

While spiritual energy did accumulate, if given the chance it would diffuse throughout the environment. He knew that from a treatise he’d glanced at when he’d explored the Manual Pavilion. Some scholar had said as much, also stating that the end of the universe would come about like so - All of the heavenly objects in the sky dissipating as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth finally achieved a state of perfect uniformity.

Yu Chen had tossed the book aside, thinking it was nonsense. He’d lacked a frame of reference, and believed it to be nothing more than the rambling of some mad man. This strange phenomena made him recall it, and he now pondered, thinking deeply about the words he had read.

What level did one have to reach to create a technique such as this, he wondered. Whoever that mysterious person had been, they must’ve seen things he could only dream of.

Yu Chen hesitated, almost fearful of the powerful technique he’d acquired, but he shoved the feeling aside, intent on going through with his breakthrough. It took two breaths this time, inhaling and exhaling with perfect form before he could shed himself, harmonizing with the world around him.

He cycled the new breathing technique once more, and through some profound method his dantian became void, endlessly irresistible to the natural energy around him. The energy poured into him, far more than he could handle, as he continued to cycle his qi through strange endless loops that fed back into each other.

The sheer amount of energy was threatening to rupture his dantian, so he seized it with a firm mental grasp before squeezing, doing his best to condense it into a less vaporous form. Even as he did so, more energy flooded into his dantian, diluting his work before he could complete it.

He simply couldn’t stop. Clamping down with all of his formidable mental force, he pressed, and to his surprise it shifted, easily condensing in size. The energy continued to pour in, but he paid it no mind, condensing it further.

In truth he’d been ready to take this step for some time, and the energy molded to his desires with surprising ease.

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By now it was more than halfway finished, less than half the size of his dantian, which had grown over time. The qi reservoir in his body had originally been the size of a fist, only holding perhaps a few cups worth of the precious energy. By now it had expanded to roughly the size of a bathtub, and he could use the equivalent of gallons of qi without running out.

To step into this final stage he had to take that vast amount of qi and compress it down until it was once again the size of a fist. He bent his mind to it, and though the energy was being constantly diluted and resisted him fiercely, he slowly forced it into submission despite its unwillingness to change forms.

Through sheer tyranny of will he pressed upon the energy, forcing it to condense into a smaller space.

To his surprise it worked. His qi was roughly the size of a fist, and beginning to shift forms, solidifying into something that was slightly less vaporous. He breathed out, a sight of relief, beginning to wind down now that he’d condensed his qi and stepped into a highe-

“Continue!”

The shout shattered his equanimity, and the mental jolt caused him to lose control of the half finished ball of qi. He watched in dismay as it billowed back to its regular state, and hastily vented what he could from his dantian before it overflowed. Yu Chen sighed in frustration, before blinking and opening his eyes.

“Xiao- Shizu?” Yu Chen asked hesitantly, looking around in confusion. “Why have you done that?”

It’d been some time since he’d heard from the little fellow. Yu Chen was used to it however, often going months without speaking to the dragon. Old monsters viewed time differently, and even the elders back at the sect had seen nothing wrong with spending a few years in meditation.

“Why have I -.” Xiao Huang’s voice was filled with rage, despite sounding faint and far away, as if the connection was tenuous. “I should be asking you! What are you playing at?”

“What do you mean?” Yu Chen asked in confusion. “I was almost finished Shizu, I’d finally condensed my qi to the size of a fist!”

“A FIST-” The outraged voice cut off, and Yu Chen was subjected to a lengthy diatribe about the inadequacies of sect’s and their teachings. “Listen carefully, hatchling, before you make a complete embarrassment out of me. I don’t care what nonsense this sect has taught you, but even mindless beasts know that this step requires you to compress your qi to a size smaller than a marble. Are you trying to cripple yourself?”

Yu Chen’s eyes widened at the words. Compress? Was the true fourth stage then Qi Compression? Or perhaps it was some higher stage, beyond even the fourth? To Xiao Huang such distinctions didn’t matter, but he was a human and had an itch to quantify things.

More than ever he felt that his knowledge was sorely lacking. Xiao Huang said that he’d nearly crippled himself. But wasn’t this the same method that all disciples in the Golden Mist used? They couldn’t all be cultivating improperly could they?

He turned the words over in his head as he thought about it, before letting out a rueful chuckle. Of course they could.

He couldn’t help but remember how grand the Manual Pavilion had once appeared to him, and it hadn’t even been that long ago. He’d only been cultivating for little more than a year, but already his world had experienced massive changes; it was as if every other day some part of what he’d known of cultivation had been upended.

In one day he’d gone from practicing martial arts to flying through the sky on a massive spiritual sword, and in that moment he’d felt his horizons expand. After which he’d encountered others, Cang Wuji and a scheming princess, as well as an inscrutable voice that spoke from thin air. Each had been more knowledgeable than him by far, and each encounter had helped widen his eyes.

Through them he’d managed to see how impressive the hidden world of immortals truly was. Forget a small sect in the middle of nowhere, there were those who could travel through dimensions and control the flow of time over vast territories, ruling over millions of others who lived their entire lives blissfully unaware.

And even then, there was always a larger fish.

He looked towards the source of the destruction that had damaged the ziggurat so destroying the portal atop it, alongside much of the rest of the outpost. Just the sight of it sent Yu Chen’s heart into palpitations. It was a giant handprint, appearing as though a massive palm had reached out of the heavens and pressed down, crushing everything beneath it.

He sighed, banishing the thought as he recentered himself, preparing to finish his breakthrough. From the beginning to the end, the most unfathomable entity had always been Xiao Huang, and he’d yet to steer him wrong.

“I understand Shizu.” He whispered, closing his eyes, and beginning to cycle his breathing technique.

The spiritual energy began pouring in from all around him, thick and dense, but he was prepared for it this time. It only took a few precious seconds for his dantian to refill, straining at the edges as qi rushed to fill the void. At the right moment he seized the energy in his mental grasp, bearing down on it and once again forcing it to compress.

It wasn’t as much of a struggle as before, and it didn’t take long before it was once again the size of a fist. Now, however, the real challenge began. Bringing the entirety of his will to bear down upon it, he forced the amorphous ball of qi to compress further. It begrudgingly obliged, lurching a half step smaller, but it stubbornly refused to repeat the process once more.

Sweat trickled down Yu Chen’s temples, stinging his eyes, but he didn’t blink. A glint of excitement could be seen within, and he was fully focused on the task at hand. That small shift, as the energy gave half a step, was all the proof that he needed. He knew it could be done. Determination blazed within him as he redoubled his efforts, pressing down on the dense bundle of qi with renewed intensity. Yet the energy was inflexible, refusing to compress further as it mulishly resisted him.

Yu Chen wouldn’t be denied however. Gritting his teeth, he let loose a roar, a raw sound that scraped at his throat as he shouted and twisted his will upon it. The added torque as he pressed down created a conflicting force that caused the energy to shudder, its resistance weakening. The strain of holding the writhing mass of qi felt like fire racing through his veins. A small drop of blood landed on the ground before him and he noted it absently, a testament to the pressure involved in maintaining concentration.

And then—it happened.

A barely perceptible tremor resonated through his dantian as the qi yielded, shifting into place. Yu Chen collapsed to his knees, taking ragged breaths as the world spun around him. Gasping for air he turned his vision inwards, seeing a small marble of incredibly dense qi shimmering faintly as it slowly rotated in the center of his dantian.

A surge of triumph ran through him at the sight, and he pushed himself up on trembling limbs, a fierce grin crossing his face.